Trent Alexander-Arnold suffers major injury blow as Liverpool dealt League Cup final setback

Trent Alexander-Arnold is out of Liverpool's League Cup final against Chelsea later this month - and faces a race to be fit for the Premier League title showdown with Manchester City.

Alexander-Arnold was forced off at half-time of the 3-1 Premier League home win over Burnley on Saturday having aggravated a knee problem first suffered during the FA Cup third round win at Arsenal in early January.

The right-back was absent for three games and subsequently failed to play more than an hour in any of his four appearances, two of which came from the bench. And scans have confirmed he now faces an extended spell on the sidelines, although no surgery is required.

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While no timescale has been set on Alexander-Arnold's return, the vice-captain is expected to be out for a number of weeks, which would rule him out of not only the Wembley date with Chelsea on Sunday week, but also Premier League games at Brentford and Nottingham Forest and at home to Luton Town, and also the FA Cup fifth round visit of Championship side Southampton.

The 25-year-old could also miss the resumption of Liverpool's Europa League campaign in the round of 16 in early March, with City then due at Anfield on Sunday, March 10.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admitted after the Burnley game he feared Alexander-Arnold was facing another spell out. "His knee again? Yes, it felt like that," said Klopp. "He got it stuck in the grass and we will see."

Alexander-Arnold isn't the only Liverpool player to recently suffer a setback having returned from injury. Dominik Szoboszlai